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Copy I 



Benjamin Franklin 



A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



BY 



WILL M. CLEME\S 




THE WERNER COMPANY, Publishers 
AKROIV, OHIO, U. S. A. 

1904 



LIBPARY flf OONGRFSS 
TWO Copies Recetved 
SEP 27 1904 
^ Oopyrff ht Entry 

CLa?S3 <Z XXo. No. 

COPY B 



COJPYRIGHT, 1904, 
BY 

THE wern:^r company 



• • • 

• • • 



EI "502 
■ G 



FEANKLIN, BENJAMIN. 

Tj^RANKLIN, Benjamin, an American printer, philosopher 
and statesman, born in Milk Street, Boston, Mass., Jan. 
6 (old style), Jan. 17 (new style), 1706. He was the youngest 
son of the youngest son of many generations of Franklins 
who came of old English stock well known in the shire of 
Northampton. The name of Franklin appears rather to be 
of a French than of an English origin. It is certain that the^ 
name of Franklin, or Franquelin, is very common in Picardy, 
especially in the district of V^imeu and Ponthieu. It is very 
probable that one of Franklin's ancestors was an inhabitant 
of this region, and went over to England with the fleet of 
Jean de Biencourt, or that which was fitted out by the no- 
bility of this province. There was at Abbeville, in the fif- 
teenth and sixteenth centuries, a family of the name of 
Francklin, and John and Thomas Franquelin, woolen 
drapers, lived there in 1521. 

Franklin's father, Josiah, and the grandfather and great- 
grandfather before him appear to have been blacksmiths, 
although according to Dr. Franklin's own account 
Ancestry, of his family, whose pedigree he looked into with 
great diligence while he was in England, it ap- 
pears that they were all well born, or gentlemen in the best 
sense of the word ; yet the blacksmith succession was most 
religiously continued in the family down to the days of Ben- 
jamin's father, who in his later life in Boston became a candle 
^and tallow merchant. Josiah and his favorite brother Ben- 
jamin had lived on thirty acres of land in Northampton, 
where they conducted the smithy along with the cultivation 
of the good, old English soil. They were a pious race, the 
P>anklins, and in the days of Charles II. Josiah and his 
brother Benjamin, are said to have abandoned the Church of 
England and espoused the cause of the Dissenters. It was 
on this account that led Josiah to leave England about the 
year 1682 and take up his abode in Boston, bringing with 
him his wife and three children. There were four other chil- 
dren by this wife, and upon her death Josiah married Abiah 

— 17 — 



Folger, a daughter of Peter Folger, who had settled in 
Watertown in 1635. Folger was a missionary among the In- 
dians and later a Baptist preacher. Ten children were born 
to Josiah by his second wife, the fifteenth and youngest son 
being Benjamin, who was destined to become a leading 
figure m early American history. 

Uncle Benjamin, elder brother of Josiah, was of a literary 
turn, and early in life collected two quarto volumes of poems, 
written in shorthand of his own inventing. Being a man of 
great piety, and fond of listening to the best preachers, 
whose sermons he always took down, he collected in the 
course of his life, eight volumes of sermons in folio, besides 
nearly thirty in quarto and octavo, and all in shorthand. In 
his seventy-third year, still rugged and strong, he left Eng- 
land and came over to America to see his young brother. 
On his arrival in Boston he was warmly received by Josiah, 
who pressed him to spend the remainder of his days in his 
family. To this proposition the old gentleman readily con- 
sented; and the more so as he was then a widower. He had 
the honor to give his name, and to stand godfather to little 
Benjamin, for whom, on account of his vivacity and fond- 
ness for learning, he conceived, an extraordinary affection. 
It is certain that the bent of Cncle Benjamin's mind had 
much to do with the shaping of Dr. Franklin's career as 
journalist and philosopher. 

Franklin undoubtedly derived his piety and learning from 
his fathers family; his physical traits from his mother. His 
clear, sound, common sense and homely philosophy, the 
most distinguishing qualities of mind which he possessed, he 
got from his father. The eider Franklin was a wise though 
not indulgent parent, and the son in his Autobiography 
draws a portrait of him in which he tells us that he was of 
medium size and finely formed — his complexion fair and 
ruddy — black, intelligent eyes — and an air uncommonly 
graceful and spirited. In respect of mind he was a man of 
the purest piety and morals, and consequently cheerful and 
amiable in a high degree. He possessed a considerable taste 
for the fine arts, particularly drawing and music; and having 
a voice remarkably sonorous and sweet, whenever he sang a 
hymn accompanied with his violin, which he usually did at 
the close of his day's labors, it was delightful to hear him. He 
possessed also an extraordinary sagacity in things relating 
both to public and private life, insomuch that not only indi- 
viduals were constantly consulting him about their affairs, 
and calling him in as an arbiter in their disputes; but even 
the leading men of Boston would often come and ask his 
advice in their most important concerns, as well of the town 

— 18 — 



as of the Old South Church where joung Benjamin was bap- 
tized. 

^^ Almost all of the distinguishing features of Franklin's 
character in life may be traced to his childhood. He was in 
his earliest days shrewd and artful, industrious 
and persevering, and of habits most economical. Childhood. 
The stories of his recommending his father to 
say grace over a whole barrel of beef at once ; and of his 
disgust with a favorite whistle, the moment he found he had 
paid too dear for it, are well known. When at school 
Franklin distinguished himself among his playfellows by his 
strength and address, and he was generally the leader in all 
their schemes. Their great delight was fishing for minnows ; 

"and as their constant trampling had made the edge of the 
pond a quagmire, Franklin's active mind .suggested the idea 
of building a little wharf for them to stand upon. Unluckily 
a heap of stones w^as collected, at no great distance, for 
building a new house; and one evening Franklin proposed 
to his companions to make free with them after the workmen 
were gone home. The project was approved, and executed 
with great industry ; but the next morning the stones were 
missed, and inquiry was made, and the consequence was — a 
complaint again.st the boys. Franklin pleaded in excuse the 
utility of the work ; but his father wisely took the oppor- 
tunity of inculcating the excellent maxim, that what is not 
honest cannot be useful. 

At the age of eight Benjamin was sent to the Boston 
Grammar School, his father intending him for the church. 
His Uncle Benjamin, too, greatly approved the idea of mak- 
ing a preacher of him ; and by way of encouragement, 
promised to him all his volumes of sermons, written in his 
own shorthand. 'At the age of ten little Benjamin, not over 

"fond of the career marked out for him, longed for the sea and 
the life of a sailor. Josiah had already lost one son by his 
running away to sea, and, fearful of losing another, as a sort 
of compromise , Benjamin was set at "dipping wicks and 
pouring grease," in his father's chandlery.) In his Au/o- 
%iography, Franklin writes of his bo\-hood period : 

"I continued in my father's business for two years, that is, 
till I was twelve j-ears old ; and my brother John, who was 
bred to that business, having left ray father, married, and set 
up for himself in Rhode Island, there was all ajipearance that 
I was destined to supply his place and become a tallow chand- 
ler. But my dislike to the trade continuing, my father was 
under apprehension tliat if he did not find one for me more 
agreeable I would break away * * * to his great vexation. 
He therefore sometimes took me to walk with him, and see 
joiners, bricklayers, turners, braziers, etc., at their work that 

— 19 — 



he might observe luy inclination and endeavor to fix it on some 
trade or other. It has ever since been a pleasure to me to see 
good workmen handle their tools; and it has been useful to 
me, having learned so much by it as to be able to do little jobs 
myself in my house when a workman could not readily be got, 
and to construct little machines for mj^ ex]ieriinents, while the 
intention of making the experiment was fresli and warm in 
my mind. My father at last fixed upon the cutler's trade, and 
my Uncle Benjamin's son, Samuel, who was bred to that busi- 
ness in IvOndon, being about that time established in Boston, I 
was sent to be with him some time on liking. But his expecta- 
tions of a fee with me displeasing mj' father, I was taken home 
again." 

Franklin from his earliest school days had been fond 
of books and reading. His first collection was of John 
Banyan's works in separate little volumes, and he was en- 
raptured with Pilgrim's Progress: These books he sold to 
enable him to purchase Burton's Historical Collections, 
which, he writes in his Autobiography, were "small chap- 
l)Ooks. and cheap, forty or fifty in all." It was at this time 
that he read Plutarch's Lives, De Foe's An Essay on 
Projects, and Cotton Mather's Essays to Do Good. These 
volumes had much influence on the future events of his 
life. 

"This bookish inclination," says his Autobiography, "at 
length determined mj' father to make me a printer, though he 

had already one son (James) of that profession. 
A printer's In 1717 my brother James returned from England 
apprentice, with a press and letter.s, to .set up his business in 

Boston. I liked it much better than that of my 
father, but still had a hankering for the sea. To prevent the 
apprehended effect of such an inclination, my father was im- 
patient to have me bound to m3' brother. I stood out some 
time but at last was persuaded and .signed the indentures 
when I was yet but twelve years old. I was to serve as an ap- 
prentice till I was twenty-one years of age, only I was to be 
allowed journeyman's wages during the last year. In a little 
time, I made great proficiency in the business and became a 
u.seful hand to my brother. I now had access to better books. 
An acquaintance with the apprentices of booksellers enabled 
me sometimes to borrow a small one, which I was careful to re- 
turn .soon and clean. Often I .sat up in my room reading the 
greatest part of the night, when the book was borrowed in the 
evening and to be returned early in the morning, lest it should 
be nii.s.sed or wanted." 

After much reading, young Franklin, while serving his ap- 
prenticeship, was ambitious to put his own thouglits on pa- 
per and first turned to versification. One of his poems was 
called Tlie Lighthouse Tragedy, and contained an account 
of the shipwreck of Captain Worthilake with his two daugh- 

— 20 — 



ters ; the other was a sailor's song on the taking of the 
famous Teach, or Blackbeard, the pirate. "They were 
wretched stuff," he afterward wrote, "in street ballad style; 
and when they were printed my brother sent me about the 
street to sell them. The hrst sold prodigiousl)% the event be- 
ing recent, and having made a great noise. This .success 
flattered my vanity ; but my father discouraged me by criti- 
cising my performances, and telling me verse-makers were 
generally beggars. Thus I escaped being a poet, and prob- 
ably a very bad one." He then turned to prose, and by the 
aid of his fatlier and an odd volume of the Spectator, suc- 
ceeded in correcting his faults of composition and made 
rapid progress. Three years after he was apprenticed he 
obtained a book on vegetable diet, and, with some liking for 
the perverse, became a vegetarian. In this way he saved 
part of the expense of his board, and got a little money for 
books. From reading Xenophon's Memorable T/iings of 
Socrates, he took up the Socrates method of disputation 
which helped to crystallize his style. 

In 1720 James Franklin, printer, established The A^ew 
England Coui'ant, the third newspaper in the colonies, and 
Benjamin, unbeknown to his brother, wrote occasional 
pieces for it which he secretly placed under the door of the 
office. These were accepted and printed without their 
authorship being discovered. Encouraged by his success, 
he wrote on, and sent to the press, in the same way, several 
other pieces, which were equally approved, keeping the 
secret till his slender stock of information was pretty com- 
pletely exhausted, when he came out with the real author. 
His brother, on this discovery, began to entertain a little 
more respect for him, but still looked on and treated him as 
a common apprentice. Ben, on the other hand, thought 
that, as a brother, he had a right to greater indulgence. 
This difference in opinion rose to disputes, which were often 
brought before their father, who generally gave way to Ben- 
jamin. James could not bear these awards of his father in 
favor of a younger brother, but would fly into a passion and 
treat him with abuse, even to blows. Ben took this tyran- 
nical behavior of his brother in extremely ill part ; and he 
somewhere says that it imprinted on his mind that deep- 
rooted aversion to arbitrary power, which he never lost, and 
which rendered him through life such a hrm and unconquer- 
able enemy of oppression. His apprenticeship became in- 
supportable and finally in October, 1723, he secretly set sail 
on a sloop for New York. Finding no employment in New 
York he pushed on to Perth i\.mboy by boat and from thence 
walked to Philadelphia, arriving there very tired and very 

— 21 — 



hungry with only a Dutch dollar and a shilling in his pocket. 
He found two printers in Philadelphia. Bradford and 
Keimer, and with the latter he secured employ- 
ment. In a few months through Keimer he be- Removal 
came acquainted with Sir William Keith, gov- to Phila- 
ernor of the province, who after a time urged delphia. 
the young printer to set up in business for him- 
self. Keith sent him to Boston with a letter to the 
elder Franklin asking financial assistance. There was 
a pronounced development of character in the youth 
at this time, and the story is told, how in his journey to 
Boston he stopped at a village inn, the landlord of which 
was impertinent and inquisitive. Franklin had scarcely set 
himself down to supper when his landlord began to torment 
him with questions. He, well knowing the disposition of 
these people, and knowing that answering one question, 
would only pave the way for twenty more, determined to 
stop the landlord at once by requesting to see his wife, chil- 
dren and servants, in short, the whole of his household. 
When they were summoned, Franklin, with an arch solem- 
nity, said : "My good friends, I sent for you here to give an 
account of myself ; my name is Benjamin Franklin ; I am a 
printer, of nineteen years of age ; reside at Philadelphia, and 
am now going to Boston. I sent for you all, that if you wish 
for any further particulars you may ask, and I will inform 
you ; which done, I hope that you will permit me to eat my 
supper in peace." 

In Boston he met with no encouragement from his father, 
and was sent back to Philadelphia empty-handed. He re- 
ported his failure to Governor Keith, who with much pomp 
and bluster asked him to make an inventory of the things 
needed in a printing shop and finally urged him to go to 
England for the purpose of purchasing the stock at the 
Governor's expense. The promised letters of introduction 
and credit were not forthcoming before the ship sailed from 
Philadelphia, but being assured by Sir William that they 
would be sent, Franklin sailed, only to find that Keith was 
not a man of his word. For eighteen months the young 
printer struggled in London. While there he was persuaded 
by a merchant, a worthy Quaker, named Denham, to return 
to Philadelphia and enter his employ as a clerk, and on July 
23rd, 1726, they embarked for America. Franklin was now 
approaching his majority and thus far had failed at his trade. 
He had worked five years in Boston, three in Philadelphia 
and nearly two years in London, and now in his twenty-first 
year, after working without ceasing and practicing rigid 
economy, he was as indigent as when he began. 

— 22 — 



LofC, 



The relation between Denham and young PVanklin proved 
of short duration, for the Quaker merchant died in the Feb- 
ruary following their arrival from England, and Franklin 
re-entered the employ of Keimer, resuming his trade of the 
types. A few months later he set up in business for him- 
self with one Meredith, and in October, 1729, they issued 
the Pennsylvania Gazette, a newspaper purchased from 
Keimer. In this paper Franklin originated the modern sys- 
tem of business advertising that has since grown 
to such enormous proportions. The following Marriage, 
year, on September I, the young publisher was 
married to Miss Deborah Reed, whom he had met during 
his first year in Philadelphia. He was but twenty-four years 
of age, and had now reached the turning point in his career. 
We have sketched rather fully his early life inasmuch as 
the vicissitudes and struggles of boyhood and youth had im- 
portant bearing on his character and purpose. With his 
marriage his public career of usefulness began. He was a 
self-educated man, of breadth of mind, originality, sound 
judgment and remarkable common-sense. At once he began 
to practice thrift, correct living and tranquillity of mind. He 
was soon to become public-spirited, influential and success- 
ful. In i;z^J-he founded a subscription library and by the 
advent of 1732 began to acquire some wealth through his own 
industry and frugality and that of his wife who folded and 
stitched pamphlets and tended shop. 'He considered himself 
fortunate in having such a wife and often quoted the old 
English proverb : " He that would thrive, must first ask his 
wife." 

" Industry was the keynote of his life as boy, as youth and 
man, and in his memoirs, he is particularly anxious to incul- 
cate the duties of industry in order that his posterity may 
know the use of a virtue, to which he was so largely indebted. 
Throughout the whole of his long life, his precept was 
strengthened by an example of the most remarkable indus- 
try, of which he furnishes many instances. When a printer, 
he was engaged in a work of forty sheets, on which he worked 
exceedingly hard, for the price was low. ' I composed,' says 
he, *a sheet a day, and Meredith worked it off at press; it 
was often eleven at night, and sometimes later, before I had 
finished my distribution for the next day's work ; for the lit- 
tle jobs sent in by our other friends, now and then, put us 
back. But so determined was I to continue doing a sheet a 
day of the folio, that one night when having imposed my 
forms, and I thought my day's work over, one of them by ac- 
cident was broken, and two pages were reduced to pie (a 
printer's term for the type getting mixed and in confusion), I 

— 23 — 



immediately distributed and composed it over again before I 
went to l)ed ; and tliis industr}', visible to our neii,dibors, be- 
gan to give us character and credit ; particularly, 1 was told 
that mention was being made of the new printing office, at 
the Merchants' Every-night club.' " 

It was in 1732 that Franklin first pul)lished his Almanac 
under tlie imprint of Richard Saunders, and it was continued 

I)y him as Poor Kicharifs Almanac for twenty- 
" Poor five years. It was the comic almanac of the 

Richard's time and proved a great success. It was one of 
Almanac."' ti-,g most influential j)ublications in the world, 

being reprinted in Great Britain, and translated 
into French and distributed among the poor. Charles Fox 
used to say, that had Franklin written nothing else, his 
Poor Richard's Almanac was alone sufficient to immor- 
talize him. His maxims, famous now as then throughout 
the world, were largely upon temperance, industry, and fru- 
gality. His advice to a young tradesman is well-worth re- 
peating here: 

" Remember that time is money. He that can earn ten shil* 
linofs a day, by his labor, and j^oes abroad, or sits idle one-half 
of that day, thougli he spends but sixpence during his diver- 
sion or idleness, ouglit not to reckon that tlie only expense ; he 
has really- spent, or rather thrown away five shillings besides. 

" Remember that credit is money. It a man lets his nione3^ 
be in my hands, after it is due, he gives me the interest, or so 
much as I can make of it, during that lime. This amounts to a 
considerable sum where a man has good and large credit, and 
makes good use of it. 

" Remember that money is of a very breeding prolific nature. 
Money begc-ts n:oney ; and its offspring can begel more ; and .so 
on. Five shillings turned is si.K. Turned again it is seven and 
threepence ; and so on, till it becomes hundreds and thousands 
of pounds. The more there is of it, the more it produces every 
turning; ,so that the profits rise quicker and quicker. He, who 
kills a breeding sow. destroys all her offsj^ring, to the thou- 
sandth generation. He who murders a crown, destrox'S all that 
it might have i)roduced ; even .scores of pounds. 

" Remember that six pounds a year is l)ut a groat a day. For 
this little sum, which may T)e daily wasted either in time or ex- 
pense, unperieived, a man of credit may. on his own security, 
liave the constant possession and use of an hundicd pounds. 
.So nnich in stock, briskly turned by an industrious man, pro- 
duces great advantages. 

'• Remember this saying ' The good paymaster is lord of an- 
other man's ])ur.se ! ' lie who is known to pay pnnctually and 
exactly to the time he promises, may, at anx^ time, and on any 
occasion, raise all the money his friends can s])are. This is 
sometimes ot great n.se. After industry and frugality, nothing 
contributes more to the rai.sing of a young man in the world, 
tlian punctuality and justice in all his dealings. Therefore 

— 24 — 



never keep borrowed money an hour beyond the time you 
jironiised, lest a disappointment shut up your friend's purse 
for ever." 

Franklin's career from this time was one of rapid progres- 
sion and subsequent public recognition. In 1733 he began 
the study of languages, had some mastery of 
Franklin French and acquired a reading knowledge of 
the Italian, Spanish, and Latin. In u,^6-4ie~" wasy 

Inventor, elected Clerk of the General Assembly and th^ 
next year was appointed Deputy Postmasters,^ 
(jeneral. lie was instrumental in organizing a regular p(> 
lice patrol in Philadelphia, and formed the Union Fire_^ 
Company, the first of its kind in America. He invented the 
Franklin stove, or Pennsylvania fireplace. In 1744 he 
founded the American Philosophical Society and later agi- 
tated the matter of an Academy, which eventually resulted in 
the University of Pennsylvania. Meanwhile his mind ran to 
scientific themes and he became a student of nature. He 
was a careful observer of ants and ma(JB~iTireTesting discov- 
eries about them. He also made the discovery that the 
northeast storms moved backward, that is, from southwest 
to northeast. In the field of electrical research he made nu- 
merous and valuable discoveries. He found the power of 
metallic points to draw off electrical matter, he discovered 
a positive and a negative state of electricit}-, he explained on 
electrical principles the phenomena of the famous Leyden 
vial, he explained the phenomena of the aurora borealis, and 
of thunder gusts, he showed the striking resemblance in 
many respects between electricity and lightning and made 
his famous experiments with the lightning and an ordinary 
kite on the commons back of Philadelphia. 

About the year 1753, Franklin began to play an important / 
part in the conducroT-cokinial affairs. He visited New Eng-( 
land upon various political missions, whde there 
Colonial receiving degrees from Vale and Harvard in rec- \ 
agent in ognition of his electrical discoveries. The fob \ 
England. lowing vear he was sent as commissioner from 
Pennsylvania to the Congress in Albany, where 
he brought forth the first coherent sclieriie ever propounded 
for securing a permanent Federal union of the thirteen col- 
onies. But public opinion was not yet ripe for the adoption 
of the bold and comprehensive ideas which it contained, 
and in consequence, it was rejected. In 1755' ^^y the stead- 
fast personal exertions of Franklin, General Braddock was 
enabled to obtain horses, wagons, and provisions for his ex- 
pedition. For the payment of these Franklin pledged his 
own property, and by the failure of the expedition he found 

— 25 — 



himself heavily in debt. Meanwhile the troubles between 
the colonies and the mother country became acute, and in 
1757 Franklin was sent over to England as agent for Penn- 
sylvania, to plead the cause of the Assembly before the privy 
council. The duties of the position kept him five years in 
England. His discoveries and writings had won him a 
European reputation, and in 1762 he received the degree 
of LL.D. from the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh. 
He returned to Philadelphia now a prominent figure in 
colonial politics, and two years later, in 17.64, he was again 
sent to England as the agent for Pennsylvania, and was in- 
structed to make every effort to prevent the passage of the 
Stamp Act. But when the obnoxious measure was passed in 
1765, Franklin counselled submission. "In this case, how- 
ever, the wisdom of this wisest of Americans proved inferior 
to the 'collective wisdom' of his fellow-countrymen." The 
Stamp Act was soon repealed, and Franklin's testimony, in 
which was evinced his strong sense and varied knowledge, 
contributed greatly to the desired result. When the demand 
was made on Massachusetts for the payment of the tea de- 
stroyed in Boston Harbor, Franklin went so far as to advise 
Massachusetts to make the payment, fearing that war would 
result if it were refused. Samuel Adams, on hearing of this, 
said: "Franklin may be a good philosopher, but he is a 
bungling politician." In this instance Franklin showed him- 
self less far-sighted than Adams and the people of Massa- 
chusetts. After using all his efforts at conciliation between 
the King and the colonies, which he found fruitless, he re- 
turned to America, arriving in Philadelphia, May 5th, 1775, 
to find the war had actually begun, the battles of Lexington 
and Concord having already been fought. In the meantime 
his faithful wife had passed away. 

The breach between England and the American colonies 
raised a barrier between Franklin and his many friends in 
England. Under date of July 5th, 1775, Dr. Franklin wrote his 
famous letter to William Strahan, his friend for many years : 

"Mr. Strahan: 

" You are a member of Parliament, and one of that Majoritj- 
which has doomed my Country to Destruction. You have be- 
gun to burn our towns, and murder our People — I^ook upon 
your hands ! — They are stained with the Blood of your Rela- 
tions!— You and I were long Friends: — You are now my 
Knemj', — and I am Yours, 

" B. Franklin." 

Having been elected a delegate to the Second Continental 
Congress, Franklin was instrumental in organizing the anny, 
navy, and finances of the new government. He drew up a 

— 26 — 



plan of union for the colonies which he presented July 2ist, 
1775, which is called the "First Sketch of a Plan of Confed- 
eration which is known to have been presented to Congress." 
Not only did he serve in Congress, but was placed in charge 
of the postal service and was made chairman of the provin- 
cial committee of safety to organize Pennsylvania for war. 
When Samuel Adams proposed his plan for a confederation 
of the colonies, which did not meet with general approval, 
that sturdy patriot said : *' If none of the rest will join, I 
will endeavor to unite the New England colonies in confed- 
erating." Franklin said to Adams: "I approve your pro- 
posal, and if you succeed I will cast in my lot among you." 
Franklin earnestly supported the proposition for a Declara- 
tion of Independence, and affixed his signature to it on July 
4th. 1776. 

Immediately upon the declaration of independence, Frank- 
lin and a committee prepared a number of very masterly 
addresses to the courts of Europe, informing what the United 
States had done ; assigning their reasons for so doing, and 
tendering in the most affectionate terms, the 
friendship and trade of the young nation. In Envoy to 
August, Franklin was appointed envoy to the France. 
French court, and arriving in Paris he was found 
to enjoy a reputation, according to John Adams, greater than 
either Eeibnitz, Newton, Frederick, or Voltaire. In order 
not to embarrass the government, he established himself in 
the suburb of Passy. He lived plainly but comfortably, 
although he was accused by John Adams of extravagance. 
Personally, Franklin was at this time an unique figure. 
Cochin, the artist, who made the famous "fur-cap portrait" 
of Franklin a few weeks after his arrival in Paris, writes this 
to a friend in Europe : " Figure to yourself an old man with 
grav hair, appearing under a martin fur cap, among the 
powdered heads of Paris. It is this odd figure that salutes 
vou with handfuls of blessings on you and your little ones." 
Three days later the French police enter this description 
on their records : " Dr. Franklin lately arrived in this coun- 
try. This Quaker wears the full costume of his sect. He 
has an agreeable physiognomy, spectacles always on his 
eyes, but little hair ; a fur cap is always on his head. He 
wears no powder ; tidy in his dress ; very white linen. His 
only defence is a walking stick." 

The Quaker envoy had not been long in France before the 
attention of all the courts of Europe was attracted to him, by 
a publication, wherein he demonstrated that, "the young, 
healthy, and sturdy republic of America, with her simple 
manners, laborious habits, and millions of fresh land and 

— 27 — 



( 



produce, would be a much safer borrower of money, than the 
old, profligfate, and debt-burthened government of Britain." 
The Dutch and French courts, in particular, read his argu- 
ments with such attention, that they s(;()n began to make him 
loans. To the French Cabinet he pointed out, "the inevita- 
ble destruction of their fleets, colonies, and commerce, in 
case of a reunion of l^ritain and America." In 1782, after 
the signing of the treaty with France, Franklin resigned, but 
Congress kept him there until March, 1785, when it voted his 
return. The three years were spent by Franklin in making 
commercial treaties with Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, 
Morocco and Prussia. i~he treaty with Prussia called for 
the abolishment of privateering. Jefferson succeeded Frank- 
lin, and when he was asked "C'est vous. Monsieur, qui 
remplace le Docteur Franklin?" he replied : "No one can 
replace him, sir; I am only his successor." Indeed, even his 
enemies had high respect for Dr. Franklin. The year before 
his return from France he wrote to his distinguished friend, 
John Jay : 

" I have, as you observe, some enemies in England, but they 
are my enemies as au American. I have also two or three in 
America who are my enemies as a minister, but I thank God 
there are not in the whole world any who are my enemies as a 
man, for by His grace, through a long life, I have been enabled 
so to conduct myself that there does not exist a human being 
who can justly say, 'Benjamin Franklin has wronged me,' 
Tliis, my friend, is in old age a comfortable reflection." 

When Franklin returned to Philadelphia, arriving there 
September 14th, 1785, he was received with the enthusiasm of 

his people and was made to feel that his services 
Return to abroad were duly appreciated. He was now 
America. nearly eighty years of age and while he was 

thrice elected president of Pennsylvania and was 
a delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention, he lived 
a quiet life, surrounded by his daughter and her family, his 
friends and his books. He wrote occasionally for the news- 
papers and in a letter to the PcujisylvcDiia Gazetle, he ad- 
vocated the transportation of American felons to England, as 
English felons had been before transported to America. " No 
due returns," he wrote, " have yet been made for these valuable 
consignments." In 1786 he wrote to a friend in Boston of 
the manner in which he pas.sed his declining years. He had 
i)een so persistent a worker that he had some compunction 
about being idle ; "but another reflection," he says, "comes 
to relieve me, whispering. You know that the soul is immor- 
tal ; why then should you be such a niggard of a little time, 
when you have a whole eternity l)efore you?" When the 
Constitutional Convention of May, 1787, was opened, Frank- 

— 28 - 



lin proposed that the proceedings should begin with prayer. 
" If a sparrow cannot fall without God's knowledge," he 
said, "how can an Empire rise without His aid?" This 
deep conviction which came to him late in life, was further 
expressed in a letter to Thomas Paine, who was planning his 
famous Ag;e of Reason, Franklin wrote to him: "I would 
advise you not to attempt unchainnig the tiger, but to burn 
this piece before it is seen by any other person. If men are 
so wicked with religion, what would they be without it?" 
At the age of eighty-one he was elected to his last office, be- 
ing a third time president of Pennsylvania, and at this period 
he said of himself : " I seem to have intruded myself into 
the company of posterit}', when I ought to have been abed 
and asleep." 

At the age of eighty-two, feeble in body, yet still vigorous 
in mind, he made his last public speech, before the Federal 
Constitutional Convention, over which Washington presided. 
It is a speech showing the charm of modesty in a great man 
and is noted for its temperance and cheerfulness : 

"Mr. President: 

" I do not entirely approve this constitution at present, but^ 
sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it; for, having lived 
long, I have experienced manj' instances of being 
His last obliged, by better information, to change opinions 

public which I once thought right. It is, therefore, that 

speech. the older that I grow, the more apt I am to doubt 

my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the 
judgment of others. Most men, indeed, as well as most sects 
of religion, think themselves in posses.sion of all truth, and that 
whenever others differ from them, it is so far error. Steele, a 
Protestant, tells the pope that the 'only difference between 
our two churches, in the opinion of the certainty of their doc- 
trines, is, the Romi.sh church is infallible, and the Church of 
England never in the wrong.' 

" But th(:)Ugh many private persons think almost as highly of 
their own infallibility, as of that of their sect, few express it so 
naturally as a certain French lady, who, in a little dispute with 
her sister, said: 'I don't know how it happens, sister, but I 
meet with nobod}' but myself that is always in the right.' In 
these sentiments, sir, I agree to this constitution, with all its 
faults, if they are such ; because I think a general government 
necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what 
may be a blessing, if well administered ; and I believe, farther, 
that this is likely to be well admini.stered for a course of years, 
and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done be- 
fore it, when the people shall become .so corrupted, as to need 
despotic government, being incapable of any other. I doubt, 
too, whether any other convention we can obtain, may be able 
to make a better constitution. For when you assemble a num- 
ber of men to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you 
assemble witli those men all their prejudices, their passions, 

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"-IBRARY OF CONGRESS 




012 048 180 



their errors of opinion, their local interests, and their selfish 
views. From such an assembly, can a perfect production be 
expected? It therefore astonishes nie, sir, to find this system 
approaching so near to perfection as it does ; and I think it 
will confound our enemies, who are waiting in confidence, to 
hear that our councils are confounded like those of the builders 
of Babel and that our states are on the point of separation, only 
to meet hereafter for the purpose of cutting each other's 
throats. Thus I consent, sir, to this constitution, because I ex- 
pect no better, and because I am not sure that this is not the 
best. The opinions I liave had of its errors I sacrifice to the 
public good. I have never whispered a syllable of them abroad. 
Within these walls they were born, and here they shall die. If 
every one of us, in returning to our constituents, were to report 
the objections he has had to it, and endeavor to gain partisans 
in support of them, we might prevent its being generally re- 
ceived, and thereby lose all the great advantages resulting 
naturally in our favor among foreign nations, as well as among 
ourselves, from our real or apparent unanimity. Much of the 
efficiency of any government, in procuring and securing hap- 
piness to the people, depends on the general opinion of the 
goodness of that government, as well as the wisdom and integ- 
rity of the governors. 

"I hope, therefore, that for our own sakes, as a part of the 
people, and for the .sake of our prosperity, we shall act heartily 
and unanimously, in recommending this con.stitution, wherever 
our influence may extend, and turn our future thoughts and 
endeavors to the means of having it well administered. 

" On the whole, sir, I cannot help expre.s.sing the wi.sh, that 
every member of the convention who may still have objections, 
would, with me, on this occasion, doubt a little of his own in- 
fallibility, and making manifest our unanimity, put his name 
to this in.strument." 

r One of the rtnal acts in Franklin's long public career was 
the writing of a Memorial to Congress protesting against 
slavery, and as late as March 23rd, 1790, he wrote a character- 
istic answer to a pro-slavery speech in Congress. He died 
in Philadelphia April 17th, 1790, aged eighty-four years and 
three months. 

Bibliography. — Sparks, Life of Benjamin Franklin, 1844 ; 
Parton, Life and Times of Benjatnin Frank /in, 1864.; Bigelow, 
Autobiographv of Benjamin Franklin, 1868; Weems, Life of 
Franklin, 1883 ; Hill, Benjamin Franklin, 1864 ; McMaster, 
Benjamin Franklin as a Man of Letters, 1887; Ford, Life of 
Franklin, 1898. 

Aug. 18, 1904. Will M. Clemens. 



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